Nō te ata nei puta ai te karere mō te hinganga o te tūī ororeka nō roto mai o Ngāti Kahungunu, o Rongowhakaata hoki, a Toni Huata.
I whānau mai ia i Te Matau a Māui, ā, i tipu ake ia i Heretaunga hai tamaiti whāngai mā ōna kaumātua, a Te Okanga rāua ko Ngaro Huata.
I kuraina ia i te kāreti o Turakina; inā te huhua noa atu o ngā kōtiro kua puta ake i tēnei kura hai tuawahine nō roto mai i te ao Māori.
Te Ao Waiata
I ngākau manawareka ia ki ngā mahi waiata nōna e tamariki ana. I waiata a ia i ngā tira waiata hāhi, i a ia i te kura tuatahi, takawaenga, kura tuarua anō hoki.
Heoi anō, nā ētahi o ōna whanaunga ia i tō ki te ao waiata nōna e mahi kutikuti makewe ana.
He whānau rongonui te whānau Huata i te ao waiata Māori; he uri whakaheke ia nā Te Okanga Huata, tētahi kaitito waiata, Canon Wi Te Tau Huata, nāna te waiata ‘tūtira mai ngā iwi’ i tito, ko tētahi o āna matua ko Tama Huata, nāna te tira whakangahau a Kahurangi, he kaiwhakahaere ō mua hoki o Te Matatini.
Arā hoki te huhua o ana kōpaki waiata, he reo Māori, tautito anō hoki te hanga.
E whitu ana kōpae waiata, me te aha, ko te nuinga o āna waiata o ngā tau e 25 kua mahue atu nei, e aro pū ana ki te taiao me ngā kōrero o ōna mātua tīpuna o Ngāti Kahungunu.
Kua huri taiāwhio tētahi o ana waiata ki ngā tōpito o te motu, ko ‘Ko wai ka hua’ te ingoa; he waiata i titoa e tōna pāpā, a Te Okanga Huata.
He kaitaunaki mō te iwi
He kaitaunaki ia mō tōna iwi Māori, otirā te hunga tito waiata Māori.
Ko ia te kaitohutohu Māori tuatahi mō Sounz i te tau 2018, ka mutu, i taua wā, i noho rā ia hei kauwaka tūhono i ngā kaitito Māori ki te ao waiata whānui, kia pūāwai ai rātau i te ao waiata.
I te pūrongo a Peata Melbourne, hei tā Huata, ko tōna tino whāinga i tōna tūranga mahi hei kaitohutohu Māori mō Sounz, ko te wairea i te ara hei whai mā te Māori i te ao waiata whānui.
“There are distributors out there that support our contemporary Māori music forums. But there isn’t a lot of support for distribution or even publishing those type of forums for more of a classical, or for more of a traditional sense or even in the kapa haka world.”
He whakahokinga koha
Nō muri mai i ngā pānga kino a Huripari Kāperiera i te tau 2023, i kōkirihia e Huata hai whakakohikohi i ngā pūtea e āwhina atu ai te hunga pōkaikaha nā ngā uauatanga a te huripari i hōrapa i te motu.
I whakatūria te konohete e kīia nei ko ‘Tūtira Mai’ i Pōneke i tōna toru wiki nō muri mai i te huripari, ā he kohikohi pūtea hai whina te mahi.
Nā Huata ngā whetū o te ao pūoro Māori i whakakotahi ai kia tautoko i te kaupapa.
I tētahi pūrongo i pānuitia e Tema Hemi, ko tā Huata mahi, he tautoko i tōna whānau ake i te kāinga.
Hai āpōpō tau atu te taonga o te mate nei ki Pipitea Marae, ki Pōneke, ā ka rere atu ia ki te marae, ki Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga.
Kua mahue mai ko tōna Māmā, āna tamariki, tōna hoa, ōna tūngane, teina, me ōna tini whanaunga.
Nōreira e te reo mīere o Kahungunu, e te māreikura o te ao waiata Māori, ahakoa kua whakawhiti atu rā koe ki tua o te ārai, ka ora tonu tō wairua, tō ngākau, tō reo i ō tini karangatanga, otirā i te ao waiata Māori. Moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā.
